The World Health Organization (WHO) currently recommends that children with severe pneumonia be admitted to a health facility for antibiotic injections and supportive care while children with non-severe pneumonia be treated in the community (outside of health facilities) with oral antibiotics.

The death rate for pneumonia is substantially higher in poor countries. Limited access to health care, delays in diagnosis and treatment, misdiagnosis, and concurrent co-morbid conditions such as malnutrition contribute to the poor outcomes for children with pneumonia in the developing world. In an effort to get appropriate care to sick children sooner, Center for Global Health & Development (CGHD) researchers and collaborators hypothesized that children with less serious, but still severe, pneumonia might do well with an oral antibiotic that could be administered at home. To test this hypothesis, the CGHD and collaborators conducted a study at nine sites in eight countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

More than 1,700 children who had been brought to tertiary care hospitals with severe pneumonia were enrolled into the study. Each child was randomized to receive either an oral antibiotic (amoxicillin) or antibiotic injections (penicillin). The study found that the children receiving oral antibiotics fared equally as well as those receiving injectables. An expert panel convened by the WHO commended these findings. However, they concluded that the safety and efficacy of home-based care needed to be directly tested and established. The CGHD agreed to take its proof to the next level with further study.